Dec 22, 1977 − July 5, 2013
Jacquie Childers, web producer and public relations leader, was integral to HeARTs Speak. Her artistic eye is evident throughout our web site. Her technical skills supported our first years of organizational and website growth. She was a tireless advocate for HeARTs Speak, and there were no tasks too large or small for her to handle. She oversaw the migration of the website and databases through multiple upgrades. She was the person who so many of us went to for assistance when we first joined HeARTs Speak.
“I loved Jacquie Childers and miss her dearly. Her dedication and determination are unmatched, it was not uncommon for us to be on the phone together to meet a deadline well into the middle of the night. It was Jacquie’s technical skills that made my vision for the HeARTs Speak website a reality; her organizational skills lead the web and writing teams and kept the creative visionaries who are HeARTs Speak, focused. We worked together without breaks, for weeks on end and after three years I grew to love her like family. It is so difficult for me to grasp the fact she is gone. I deeply appreciate the role she played in our growth, and words really can’t adequately convey the grief I feel over her loss. She was too young, so talented, so loyal and dedicated, and is sorely missed” says Lisa Prince Fishler, HeARTs Speak’s Founder.
Jacquie was a freelance designer, developer, and artist who had worked with non-profits for over 10 years, starting in 2001 as a web volunteer for The Afghan Women’s Mission. In 2002, Jacquie honed her design, development, and artistic skills as the lead designer/developer and art director for Niya, a U.S. based non-profit that worked with humanitarian organizations based in India. One of these was Maharogi Sewa Samiti, which was created by the beloved humanitarian Baba Amte to aid socially outcasted individuals with leprosy and other disabilities.
In 2006-08, Jacquie worked as the lead designer and developer for The Unexpected Pit Bull (TUPB). In 2010, she and Jay Ullman founded Enso Blue LLC, a design and development company that creates simple, unique, and artistic design for the web and print. Jacquie first worked with HeARTs Speak in 2011 when she and Lisa Prince Fishler worked to redesign and rebrand TUPB’s website and calendar together. With their new design and HeARTs Speak members’ work gracing its pages, the calendar’s sales increased significantly, as a result.
Lisa recalls, “I first met Jacquie while working on The Unexpected Pit Bull calendar. It was late in the year to be starting that process, but since HeARTs Speak had members across the globe with a passion for pit bull type dogs already, we had a large number of images and stories to choose from. Together, Jacquie and I were able to design and pull together a beautiful and unique calendar. As we worked together, I discovered she was extremely creative and strong willed, and it was not uncommon for us to butt heads! Understanding that our end goals were always the same, however, we grew to deeply respect and love each other and she later joined forces with us here, at HeARTs Speak. She had just recently started sharing her own artwork with us; we were all blown away by her diverse talents in multiple mediums. Jacquie was the model HeARTs Speak member, and a pillar in the HeARTs Speak family. We will forever be grateful to have known and worked with her, and will hold her in our hearts, always.”
To honor Jacquie’s talents and spirit, HeARTs Speak is establishing the Jacquie Childers Scholarship Fund. Details are forthcoming.
Please join us in remembering Jacquie. She touched so many of our hearts.
“Beyond the incredible sadness over losing talented and kind Jacquie is the joy that I feel when I remember her. She had a laugh and positivity that, combined with her enthusiasm for art and perfecting the littlest of technical details, made her fun to work with. She had an ability to make everything beautiful.” –Kelly Schulze, Chair, Artist Committee
“I never met Jacquie in person…one of things I wish had happened. But even though we never met face to face we connected on so many levels. We would often chat on Facebook or via email about our cats (yes we are both crazy cat ladies) and about life in general. She was always positive and focused on living life to the fullest. She never let on how sick she really was. In one of our last conversations we talked about the strides she was making and celebrated the little things that were making her daily life easier as she dealt with her illness. She was so strong. She was an amazing artist and a good friend. I am grateful that I got to share a few moments in time with her. She will be missed forever and never forgotten.” –Lori Fusaro, Secretary of the Board
“Working with Jacquie through HeARTs Speak, I was always so astounded by her ability to meld creativity with technical knowledge. It’s something I feel is so rare and everything that she set out do was accomplished with success, thought, passion and beauty. What she brought to HeARTs Speak was so valuable and we wouldn’t be where we are today without her. As an artist, she brought the same to her work. Every piece of hers is remarkably different yet so incredibly “Jacquie”. Her talent and versatility is reflected in everything she did and in all mediums. She was a truly amazing person with so much talent and she is so dearly missed.” –Erica Matyas, Chair, Animal Welfare Organization Committee
“Jacquie had the best laugh in town. I will always remember her laugh. I loved her no nonsense approach to work and solving problems. She had an amazing ability to get to the heart of the matter and get things done. She was HeARTs Speak’s techno wizard gal and she never ceased to amaze everyone. But it is her beautiful, compelling and haunting artwork that I will remember the most. How I would love to sit down with her and ask her questions about some of her pieces. She was a talented artist and will be missed dearly.” –Jill Flynn, Chair, Community Outreach Committee
“Jacquie got things done. Which happens to be one of my favorite qualities in a person. And I’m not just talking about her day-to-day work tasks, or washing the dishes, or feeding her beloved cat. I mean, if she was on a mission to make you laugh, it happened. If she decided an in-depth discussion would help unite and motivate our web and writing team, it happened. If I had spent 3 grueling days trying desperately to align one photo to the left-hand side of a blog page, she’d give me the tools to make it happen once I finally admitted my difficulties; utterly void of judgement. That inimitable and all-encompassing warmth that emanated from her was as far-reaching as her ability to fix any problem she happened upon, and I’ll never take for granted the true friendship I felt with a soul I’d never even met in the flesh. Jacquie’s passing affects me deeply to this day and, for me, that is the sincerest testament to her loveliness. That, while we never once shared the same physical space, it feels as though we were standing in the same room, smiling knowingly at one another all along.” -Hannah Pearman, Director of Communications
Please click here to view a beautiful video tribute to Jacquie, created by Lori Fusaro.
